Hopes Quest
by Harbinger XIII
Summary: Hope leaves his home unannounced to go on a personal quest to the very belly of Cocoon to retrieve something he lost two years ago, when his life changed forever. LightningxHope Post game, ignores the events of XIII-2. Takes place in 2AF (Two years after fall). FINAL CHAPTER UP!
1. An Unlikely New Friend

Hopes Quest

A breeze blew through the night air kicking up small grains of sand on the shore of New Bodhum stars filled a cloudless sky the light they emanated refracted off the beach oddly making it look silver. A young boy and a pink haired woman stood on a balcony overlooking the shore, the moon's light reflected off his silver hair strangely.

"Light, thank you..." Hope said smiling widely. "It's the one I used when we were L'cie." Lightning replied with a small grin. "It's beautiful." Hope commented running his hand over the silver blade then giving the gunblade a small downward swing silently remarking at how natural it felt in his hands. "The advancement you've shown is remarkable Hope." She praised. It only took him a month to master the gunblade a weapon that took years for Lightning to master herself.

"You refinished it?" Hope asked noticing his reflection in the blade. She nodded. "It's been two years." Hope said more to himself than Lightning. Lightning nodded, "Since orphans fall." she finished. "Lightning." Hope said. "Hope?" She asked. Hope shook his head. "Never mind." Lightning started to urge him to tell her but decided against it. Hope turned back towards the beach looking at the crystallized Cocoon even thousands of miles away it was clearly visible.

Hope felt something peck his ear. "Huh?" He woke up from his sleep and looked around seeing the vast fields of Gran Pulse the sun hurt his eyes for a few seconds until they adjusted to the light. He felt Sazh's baby chocobo pecking him from his right shoulder making chirping noises. "Sorry." He apologized to the bird. "Just dreaming about old times." Hope scratched his head taking out the gunblade Lightning had given him and laid it across his lap then ran his hand across the silver metal, it gave him comfort to know that he had his weapon, the weapon that once belonged to the love of his life, to Lightning.

The field in front of them seemed to alternate from green to yellow as gusts of wind blew through it causing the tall grass to wave back and forth sometimes revealing prowling monsters laying in wait for their next catch. "Pulse is so beautiful..." He sat back in his seat seemingly mesmerized by the plane of grass as his mind drifted off to Lightning.

"I miss her." He said to the bird as he leaned back further into the leather seat of his velocycle it had only been a few days but it felt as if he'd been gone from his home for years. The bird jumped into his lap Hope looked down at the golden hued bird that was now the size of a small falcon. He smiled. "We've all grown a lot in the past two years haven't we?" The bird chirped in agreeance. Hope stroked the bird then placed it on his shoulder. "Ready to go?" He asked the bird who chirruped happily in response. "Okay, then." Hope responded tapping the touch screen control panel navigating through the interfaces of the velocycle.

He felt even more home sick as the NORA insignia came up onto the screen, he tapped a few more places on the screen. "Heat factor zero percent." a monotone voice came from the velocycles computer. He and Snow had built the velocycle from scratch and it was the fastest and most manueverable vehicle of its type in all of Pulse but it had cooling issues they were never able to wrap their head around.

He tapped a few more sequences into the control panel. "Please present ignition code." The computer asked. "Seventy-two twelve." Hope replied to the computer. The aircraft roared to life its two rear thruster's flaired brightly as four bottom mounted thrusters allowed it to ascend straight up the back thrusters tilted sideways allowing the machine to rotate and orientate itself towards Cocoon. Hope felt his ego swell that his custom design worked so well. The sunlight shined off the aircraft's red paint brightly.

"Hold on tight." Hope told the bird feeling more than a little gutsy as he slammed the forward throttle to one hundred percent the bike took off going from zero to five-hundred miles per hour in mere seconds G-forces pushed him back deep into his seat. The chocobo squawked angrily. "Don't like it?" Hope shouted over the ferocious winds blowing through the cockpit of the vehicle his silver hair whipping wildly behind him a huge grin crossed his face. The bird let out another angry squawk.

"Fine, be no fun." Hope said curtly flicking a switch causing an invisible aura to form around the cockpit of the vehicle his body relaxed as the G-forces released him and the wind stopped. He looked down at his gauges to see the speed they were going, the control panel read eight-hundred miles per hour, the theoretical maximum speed they could go with the engines they were using. He tapped a few commands into the computer "Ghost pilot engaged." The computer announced. Hope sat back in his seat as the vehicle flew itself.

He scratched his head his finger nails dug into a jelly-like substance he pulled it out and sat it on the dashboard. "Where did you come from?" He asked the tiny yellow flan who replied with a growl. "Hehe, that's cute." Hope said grinning. It oozed into itself and growled trying to scare off the predator.

"Hey, hey relax, I'm not going to hurt you." Hope told it then went to stroke its head but jerking his hand back as he felt a static shock. "Oh, did you just use your thunder on me cute little guy?" Hope grinned then taking out a piece of candy from his back pocket. "How about some food?" He sat a red piece of skittle like candy on the dash infront of the flan it eyed it wearily. "Look, it's food." Hope told the baby flan taking out a few more pieces of the candy and putting them in his own mouth.

The flan oozed closer to the piece of candy putting its face infront of it then a jelly like tongue emerged from its mouth and it licked it up swallowing it whole. The flans expression seemed to turn into a cute looking grin. "Oooh, you like it do you." He sat a few more pellets in front of the creature who licked them up hastily. Its grin widened as the candy sunk deeper into its gelatinous body. "Best way into a monsters heart, candy." Hope said to himself grinning and watching the candy sink into the monsters stomach.

Hope was on a personal mission, and he didn't expect to make any friends along the way, especially not a baby monster, but he did. The velocycle began to slow down and eventually stop.

He looked up to see a large planetoid, Cocoon in front of him Hope could see Titan stomping about in the mountains a few miles away and not even his humongous size compared to Cocoon Hope stuck his head out of the side of the aircraft and looked up, Cocoon ascended much higher than even the highest clouds. He felt homesick. "I wonder if they're worried about me." His mind wandered back to New Bodhum.

He shook himself back into reality. "No time to day dream now." He told himself then leaning back into the aircraft. "And now, to find a way in." He said to the bird and flan. He gripped the handle bars tightly a sense of anxiety filled him.

**A/N:**What do you guys think, Should I continue?


	2. Thunderous Rage

Hope pulled his arms towards him pulling the handle bars of his aircraft back, the vehicle responded with a light hum from the bottom mounted thrusters a blue glow emanated from them and the aircraft ascended until they were above the lowest of the clouds. Hope looked down poking his head out of the left side of the velocycle. _Not a fun drop._ He thought to himself even Titan looked small from his view point then he directed his attention to the screen in front him to see Cocoon on his monitor, the huge planet (Although small compared to most others.) less than a mile in front of them. The crater in Cocoon had been sealed off when it crystallized.

Hope tapped on the screen in front of him navigating through various menus. "Scanning." The computer stated as it scanned the area around them. Shortly after the computer responded. "Twenty-two access points detected." An image of a wire-frame rendered Cocoon appeared on his screen detailing tunnels burrowing into it although only a few reached its center - where he wanted to go. Hope grasped the handle bars of his velocycle, his heart started to race from the anxiety that filled him.

He started to turn back and go home. _No, I can't chicken out I've come too far._ He thought to himself. He looked down at the flan who rested in a compartment above the touch screen in front of him. It looked up at him surrounded by candy, grinning. The young chocobo paced side to side on his shoulder sensing his anxiety.

"It'll be okay." He said more to himself than the bird, he gripped the handlebars and opened up the throttle flying towards Cocoon until he was close enough to touch it, he put his hand on the hard crystal surface of the planet, even through his leather glove he could feel it was cold as ice. He pulled back on the handle bars ascending a few dozen feet until he was in front of a gaping crack in the crystalline planet.

The vehicle orienteered itself so it faced the opening, it was extremely dark inside the tunnel seemed to glow a very faint blue. _No one's been here for years... _He felt sick to his stomache he grabbed the handle of his gunblade for comfort. _Light, I miss you so much. _He thought to himself thinking of home.

_**I'll prove myself, I swear it.**_

Lightning paced back and forth her boots clicking loudly against the tile floor of her kitchen she tugging on her hair in anger and in frustration. "How could you do that!?, You should have stopped him!" She berated Snow.  
"Look, he'll be fine, I'm sure of it." Snow defended himself."  
And if he won't be fine?" Lightning asked him angrily pounding her fist on the counter.  
"Well..." Snow scratched his head.  
"I'll gut you and all your NORA members like a fish." She told him a horrifying scowl on her face.  
Snow gave her a look of pure terror. "But, Serah." he said shakily.  
"I don't care if it hurts Serah, I will kill you, Snow, I mean it, I swear it." She yelled at him her fists balled.  
Snow gulped. "Well, let's go chase him." he suggested for the good of his own health.  
"We can't, he took out all of the power cells from the velocycles so we couldn't chase him." She replied angrily.  
_Hehe, Hope, you genius. But maybe I shouldn't have let you go.. _Snow thought to himself.  
Lightning enraged pulled out her gunblade and slammed it into her kitchen table it fell in half.

Snow snuck out of the room while Lightning was busy slaying inanimate objects, as he left he heard the toaster being killed.

* * *

**Authors note:**

**I hope you guys are enjoying this so far, sorry it took so long to get the second chapter up:3**


	3. Memories

Hope touched the control panel in front of him his aircraft responded with a loud click as the headlights turned on illuminating the tunnel in front of him. The crystalline walls looked dark blue shadows seemed to move across them sporadically due to the semi-reflective nature of the crystal walls.

Hope pushed the throttle forward lightly the aircraft flew into the hole, darkness seemed to engulf them. The headlights seemed very dim even though they were at full power the cracks that made the tunnels they were travelling through were extremely narrow sometimes leaving only inches of space between the aircraft and the walls. But even then Hope could barely see the walls. _What have I gotten myself into..._ He thought to himself.

Despite the way Cocoon glowed at night the insides of it were extremely dark. After a few hours of navigating through the corridors his aircraft emerged from a crack and into a huge room the ground was alight with crystalline fire, it was Lake Bresha. Hope dropped altitute close enough to the ground that he could see just from the crystalline flames. He heard a satisfying Click as his vehicles lights turned off.

This is where he needed to be this is where he lost what he was seeking, this was his test, a test he assigned himself.

_**A test to prove to himself he was good enough for her.**_

* * *

Hope was prepping his velocycle for take off as Snow and Sazh walked into the garage. "Kid." Sazh said. Hope jumped up startled, he hadn't heard them come in but he played it off. "Hey, Sazh." Hope replied. "We know what you're doing." Snow told him.

Hope paused for a moment. "And what am I doing?" Hope asked him. Sazh replied for him. "You're trying to prove yourself, to her." he told him. "And how did you figure that out?" Hope asked him.

"We've seen the way you look at her, it was pretty clear, you're strong Hope you have nothing to prove." Sazh told him reassuringly. Hope stayed silent as he continued checking the power levels of the aircraft. "Look, we're not going to try to stop you. But make sure you come back, I have no idea what you're going to do but, just be careful." Snow told him. Hope nodded in reply.  
Sazh's baby chocobo flew into the garage landing on Hopes shoulder. Sazh laughed. "And take him wih you, he'll keep you safe." He said laughing. Hope cracked a smile.

* * *

Hope snapped out of his trance he had been day dreaming a lot lately, he looked around the huge cavern the floor covered in huge flames, the darkness of the walls around him the crashed vestige half submerged in crystal large spires of crystal protruded from the ground sitting lopsided and skewed.

Pieces of what were once huge steel bridges protruded from crystal walls

Hope flew over a crashed train, the very train that he escaped from during the purge. He looked around some more to see a bridge with its middle section missing, the bridge his mother died on. He felt a twinge of heartbreak but pushed it away.

He hovered his aircraft between the gap in the bridge looking down he could see a crashed segment of the bridge. They had already cleaned up the bodies but it was still covered in long dried blood stains. He cringed supressing the thoughts of his mother that were plaguing his mind. He landed his vehicle on the blood stained bridge segment he grabbed a flashlight from a compartment and stuffing it in his pocket in his vehicle and stepping, out the bird gripped his shoulder tightly. He held his head in his hands as he felt a bit dizzy he leaned up against he velocycle for a minute until the mysterious dizziness passed.

"You gonna be okay?" He asked the small flan who rested in another compartment. It seemed to ignore him as it munched on candy. Hope shrugged taking that as a yes, he turned around and started walking towards the far end of the bridge his feet made heavy clunks on the steel he turned on his flashlight as it sloped deeper into the cavern.

He reached the end of the bridge, he stepped onto a crystal precipice and looked down at what seemed to be a bottomless pit the darkness was so thick, he shined his flashlight down it to see a cavern floor thirty feet down and a crack in the wall on the other side of the room in the cavern that looked like he could squeeze through. He also noticed a pile of crushed and gnarled looking crystal piled into the corner of the cavernous room below him.

Hope shined his flashlight on the wall below his feet to see small chunks of jagged crystal protruded from it, he could climb back up them so he dropped down hitting the crystal floor feet first. He walked towards the crack shining his light into it then entering, it was such a tight squeeze he had to turn sideways and shimmy down it.

Shortly later he emerged into an enclosed room illuminated by crystalline fire he looked around the room searching for any trace of something that had belonged to his mother.  
He let out a small scream as something in the corner of the room caught his eye. He looked up to see a face in the crystal staring back at him. He jerked his head away his heart beating a hundred miles per hour and looked again but it was gone. His heart started to slow down.

_Must be imagining things.. _He thought to himself resting his head on the wall behind him. He heard something that sounded extremely familiar, it sounded like humming and it seemed to be tune, but there was something familiar about it. He thought for a moment then horror filled him as he came to the realization that it was the same tune Fang hummed to him and Vanille after a tough day when they were l'cie. He listened for a moment until finally speaking. "Fang?" Hope called wondering if she had awoken from her crystal stasis.

The echoes of his voice off the walls were his only anway but he kept hearing the tune, he looked around all over the room turning in complete circles to find the source of the ghostly humming but to no avail. "Fang!" Hope shouted again hoping for an answer, the humming stopped abruptly. Hope looked around drawing his gunblade a sense of danger filled him.

He heard a giggle from the corner of the room, it sounded just like Vanille he jerked his head towards the sound but nothing was there. Then just silence, dead, complete and utter silence. Hope stood in a corner for a moment looking around the room for danger after a good half an hour he stepped out of the corner still a little shaky. But then he heard a light metallic click from the opposite corner of the room, he looked to see a silver pendant on the floor.

He approached it wearily, then scooped it up he looked at it it was a silver colored upside down triangle with a sapphire fitted into the center of it the metal was indented so it looked like rays of light were coming from the sapphire. Hope shook his head, it was his mothers but she had lost it years before the purge and her death, how did it get here? His head hurt he looked around the room still anxious about what happened earlier he stuffed the pendant in his pocket.

Then started shimmying back down the crack in the wall anxious to get home. He emerged from the crack running towards the climbable crystal wall forcing himself up it and running to his velocycle he got in it. And started the ignition, and took off he flew through the crack he entered Lake Bresha through. He started flying towards the darkness. The computer started speaking. "Hope, don't leave us, we're lonely." in its usual monotone voice Hope ignored it as he continued flying through the cracks and tunnels.

A few hours later Hope emerged from the planet and out into the now starry sky. He sighed in relief that he had gotten out of Cocoon alive, he gripped his mothers pendant. He shook his head. _Am I crazy?_ He thought to himself referring to the things he heard and saw in Cocoon.

He leaned back in his seat and put the throttle of his vehicle to the max it would go flying back towards his home, to Lightning.

_**A/N:**_  
If you're thinking "What the hell was that?" Well, I would be too. I'm going to let you - the readers - figure out what happened for yourselves:3 I know this chapter wasn't that great but I'm going to wrap it up rather nicely in the last chapter. I know I made some pretty radical changes to the feel of the story but I hope it made it more interested.


	4. Happiness Found

It was a starry night, the full moon reflected off the shores of New Bodhum brightly. A light hum could be heard as Hopes aircraft flew over his town. He grinned widely as his home came into view. He swooped down landing in front of his home. _It's three a.m..._ He pondered whether he should go in and risk waking up his family or not. After a few minutes of going back and forth on his decision he decided he was too deseperate for sleep.

He approached the house's front door and entered his access code on the keypad, the door slid open with a light swishing noise. He stepped into the dark house walking softly on the tile flooring the living room was dimly lit by the moonlight reflecting off the ocean.

He stopped for a moment looking at the ocean feeling a massive amount of relief came over him as if he suddenly came to the realization he was home, he was safe and he accomplished his mission.

"Hope." A soft voice came from the corner of the room.

Hope spun around his heart beating fast as Lightning emerged from a corner in the room walking towards him.

"L..Light." Hope said just as he felt a blow to his cheek that sent put him on his butt. He looked up at her to see her death scowl.

"Don't you dare do anything that reckless again!" She scowled loudly enough to wake up the whole house, Sazh and Snow told me everything.

Hope looked to his side feeling a mix of embarrassment, sadness and hurt as he rubbed the slap mark on his cheek

"Hope." Lightning said. He looked up at her to see her offering her hand he took it and she helped him up.

He tried to step backward expecting another slap, but to his suprise she pulled him against her their lips meeting and she started kissing him passionately Hope's eyes shot open for a moment in shock but closed them returning her kiss their tongues exploring eachothers mouthes they could feel their hearts pounding against eachothers chest. After a good thirty seconds they pulled away from eachother.

Lightning smiled as she saw the bright blushing face of a speechless Hope. "I love you too, I have for years." Hope's face didn't change he looked blankly at her still processing what had just happened. She laughed, "Yeah they told me that part too." She smiled even more widely.

Hope shook his head. "Do you really?" He asked. She nodded still grinning something he almost never saw. He pulled her into him and kissed her but this time a lot more passionately as the shock passed.

Snow came running into the room in his boxers with his arms up in the air. "GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLL!." He screamed mocking a soccer referee as he ran up to Hope giving him a man-hug pulling him away from Lightning. Hope tried to pull back from the nearly naked man as he felt Snow put something in his hand.

"Snow, get off." Hope growled.

Snow pulled away from him "You did it dude, you won her heart!" he yelled obnoxiously. Hope facepalmed expecting Snow to get punched in the face any second but to his suprise he heard Lightning giggling (Something that he had never heard before.) he looked towards her to see her face in a wide grin, she seemed happy, she never really did, but he saw a genuine happiness on her face.

Hope looked at the thing that Snow put in his hand, Hope facepalmed again. "Snow..." He groaned through his free hand his other hand now holding a condom Snow had given him.

"Huh?" The blonde haired man asked.

Hope punched him in the face as hard as he could knocking him out. "Go back to the Jersey Shore." Hope mumbled.

Lightning laughed even harder. "Now, why would you punch him for giving you a condom?" She asked.

Hope laughed. He had never really seen Lightning like this before, She seemed so happy, relaxed and unserious. "I should probably tell you what happened shouldn't I?" Hope asked referring to what happened in Cocoon.

"Wait until morning." She told him leaning in to kiss him again putting her hand on his waste line. Her eyes widened as she felt something in his pocket. "Erm, what's that?" She asked.

"Oh..." Hope replied pulling out a yellow jelly-like substance from his pocket and placing it on the table. "I kinda met a new friend, who likes candy." The puddle rose up taking its normal flan shape. Hope pulled out a piece of candy giving it to the monster it grinned widely sucking it up with its mouth. "Can we keep him?" Hope asked.

Lightning giggled. "Fine, but only if you train it to attack Snow."

Hope nodded with a big grin across his face embracing the love of his life once again.

* * *

Hope opened his eyes looking up at the ceiling, he rolled onto his side to see Lightning on her side with her back turned to him. He wrapped his arm around her middle kissing the back of her head lightly then laying his head back into his pillow he closed his eyes intently listening to her soft breathing. _She's so beautiful..._ He thought to himself.

Lightning rolled over. "Good morning." She said smiling. "Good morning beautiful." Hope said back giving her a kiss. She wrapped her arm around him burrowing her face into his chest closing her eyes sleepily.

"I love you Hope." She told him. Hope returned her gesture by kissing the top of her head and wrapping his arm around her. Lightning smiled to herself not being able to remember the last time she was this happy. She eventually fell back to sleep in his arms. Hope laid his head deep into his pillow and eventually drifting back into sleep.

**_The End?_**

* * *

**Authors notes: I hope you guys liked it. :] this is my first time writing romance in a LONG time so I hope it wasn't too corny/bad. I have a poll on my profile to possibly add a fifth chapter, so if you wanna see that go vote. :D You can also vote against it.**

**I had to write this on notepad so please forgive any formatting issues.**

**Thank you for reading and continued support:]**


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